


Everybody Loves the Sunshine

by TrickWithATwist



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuuin no Tsurugi | Fire Emblem: Binding Blade
Genre: Budding Love, Crying, F/F, Horseback Riding, Minor Character Death, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 22:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14882201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrickWithATwist/pseuds/TrickWithATwist
Summary: Sue, a recent recruit to Roy's army, has been silent ever since she joined outside of seemingly mumbling to herself; Shanna decides to take matters into her own hands by trying to pull her out of her shell.





	Everybody Loves the Sunshine

"HEY SUE!"

Shanna quickly guided her pegasus into a downward descent so she could trot next to the horseback bound archer, who they had just recently managed to rescue from the clutches of Bern. However, outside of a brief conversation with Roy where she explained her situation and some brief thank yous during the last few nights' dinner, she hadn't talked to anyone else in the army.

Shanna hadn't noticed it herself until she accidentally overhead Roy asking the Chief for advice on what to do about Sue since she seemed so distant from the rest of the army the night before. The pegasus knight had only talked to Roy a few times, but from those alone she could already tell he was overworking himself, so she took it upon herself to try to get the nomad to open up a little.

"...good morning, Shanna."

Not exactly the most enthuasistic response she could have hoped for, but any response was better than silence after all!

"Sooooo...how has your morning been so far?"

"Acceptable."

"Oh. Well that's no good! Why has it been only acceptable? Because my morning's been great so far! I woke up with no bugs in my tent, and Wade tripped after he got up and got caught and twisted up in his tent for over ten minutes this morning which was hilarious!"

The pegasus knight started to giggle as Sue remained stonefaced before responding just as deadpan as before.

"...nothing of note has happened this morning, so to say this morning has been anything more than 'acceptable' would be false."

"Oh, well yeah I suppose that makes sense! Then how about yesterday?"

"Acceptable."

"And the day before that?"

"Also acceptable."

"And the one before that?!"

"Yes, that one too was just acceptable."

"Okay, but how about the one before that!"

Sue fell silent, biting her bottom lip. It took Shanna a moment to remember that that was when she had been rescued from Wagner.

"Ah, right...Umm, well I'm sure today will be good!"

"...and what will separate this day from the others, if I may ask?"

"Well duh; I'm going to be marching right by your side all day!"

Sue didn't respond, instead opting to turn her head forward again, trying to give Shanna the hint that she didn't want to talk. The pegasus rider actually rode in silence for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"On one condition. After I answer your question, I would like to march in silence. Alone."

"Oh okay! Thea was always the same way whenever she was training; she would always yell at me to go away if I tried talking to her during them, so..."

"Who is Thea?"

"She's my older sister! She's a more experienced knight then me, but my time with the Chief and Roy has really helped me improve, so we're pretty even skillwise, or at least probably. Haven't seen her in a while after all..."

Shanna let out an awkward laugh as she fell silent, her brow furrowed. To her surprise, Sue actually spoke up, turning her head back and to the right to look at the trainee.

"...Family is very important; if your sister means this much to you, you should her how much she means to you the next time you see her. You never know when...when you might be all alone again."

Shanna's eyes lit up as the nomad cleared her throat and turned her head forward again. She guided her pegasus to quicken its trot to catch up with Sue.

"Thank you Sue, I promise I'll say I love her over and over until she never forgets it! But you have to do the same for your family, alright?"

"I...cannot say with certainty that that will be possible."

"And why is that?"

Sue very clearly hesitated, biting down hard on her lower lip and shifting her eyes downwards towards the upper back of her horse.

"...Bern invaded Sacae. My tribe rebeled and fought against them...My grandpa told me to run away and guide the women and children to safety as their army approached, and that was the last time I heard from him, or my childhood friend Shin, or...or....."

Sue started to sniffle, tears welling up in her eyes. Shanna quickly guided her pegasus even closer to her so she could make sure the nomad was alright. She had started to open her mouth to say something when Sue cut her off and began talking again.

"...t-then, as I was leading the women and children away with my mother, we were...we were ambushed. We had a traitor in our midst, who gave away our location...a-and when the enemy soldiers showed up, my mother yelled and sent everyone with us towards a nearby forest while we tried to distract the army in front of us a-and.....a-a-and they killed her. They stabbed her, p-pierced her entire torso with a lance, right in front of me. I...I froze. I tensed up. I heard screams. I whipped my head around and saw mothers running with children from an even larger group of troops coming from the forest and I...I couldn't save anyone. All of those people, **my** people died before my very eyes and I was so helpless and scared and-"

********

Shanna pulled her into a hug and hugged her as tightly as the knight could. They both fell into silence after that for a while, the sound of their horses trotting being all that remained as they continued marching towards Laus and later, Ostia. Neither the silence or embrace were broken until about ten minutes later, when Shanna remembered something and pulled away so she could look at the archer as she spoke.

********

"Hey...Can I ask my question now?"

********

Sue let out one of those awkward sad chuckles, the kind that sounds equal parts disjounted and full of relief.

********

"Of course...I said I'd answer it after all."

********

"Why does it sometimes look like you're talking to yourself? Are you actually talking to yourself, or talking to your horse, or breathing weirdly or???"

********

Sue hadn't considered what her talks with the Father and Mother must have looked like to these foreigners who most likely know next to nothing about Sacae; Shanna seemed like an eager and open minded listener, however, so maybe she could understand, or at the very least, respect the practice.

********

"In Sacae, we are raised to talk to Father Sky and Mother Earth; for us, these conversations connect us to them both and not only help us become wiser and more in tune with our size in our massive world, it also helps us Sacaens clear our minds and think calmly. So those moments where I appear to be talking to myself I suspect are when I'm trying to converse with them."

********

"...trying?"

********

The nomad sighed.

********

"Admittedly...I have been having a lot of trouble hearing their voices since... **that.** I keep attempting to talk to them and listen to their advice but, I just hear silence in response."

************ ** **

"Sue...you seem like one of the strongest people I have ever or will ever meet. I don't know anyone besides Chief that could go through all that you did and still keep pushing on. I'm sure if you keep at it, you'll be able to hear their voices again in no time! And then, you can help me hear them too!"

************ ** **

"I...you would like to listen to them?"

************ ** **

"Yep! I can hear them if I try hard enough, right?"

************ ** **

The question was oddly comforting to Sue; she couldn't help but smile wide for what must have been the first time in ages.

************ ** **

"Then I would be glad to help you listen to them. And any of their children can hear them with practice."

************ ** **

"Yes yes yes!!! Thank you Sue!"

************ ** **

"You do not need to thank me...I just would like to ask for one thing in return."

************ ** **

"Anything!"

************ ** **

"Can you...can you please keep accompanying me during marches like these? Talking with you through today's has been...very insightful and enjoyable, I feel."

************ ** **

Shanna grinned wide.

************ ** **

"I'd be glad to, Sue."

************ ** **

**Author's Note:**

> https://open.spotify.com/track/5le4sn0iMcnKU56bdmNzso?si=auRIUuUqQQeFFSrisiDtZA


End file.
